Boxing fans in the North-East will be spoiled for choice in the coming weeks.
There are two big Utilita Arena events on successive weekends when Newcastle hosts Probellum on Friday, March 25 (Joe Maphosa, Pat McCormack, Lewis Ritson, Tommy Ward, Troy Williamson and many more) with Savannah Marshall headlining the BOXXER event on Saturday April 2.
And there’s more, to quote a Jimmy Cricket-ism, Jobes Boxing and Phil Jeffries will be staging a nine-fight show at Rainton Meadows Arena on Friday, April 8, including Jordan Barker-Porter, Nathan Cummiskey and Matt McCallum plus a debut for Bobby Dalton.
But before all that, Dennis Hobson will promote at the Gateshead Hilton on Saturday, March 19, when Fightzone comes to the North-East for the first time.
Fightzone, which celebrates its first birthday next month, have put on any amount of shows you can watch on their on-line stream, or better still at the venue.
This weekend they broadcast from London on Friday evening and in Newark on Saturday, that’s the Nottinghamshire one rather than New Jersey! Recently they were at Donald Trump’s gaff in Turnberry in Scotland.
Sheffield fight figure Hobson, probably best known for his success with Clinton Woods and his prolific promoting in South Yorkshire, is one of the most respected and hard-working promoters in the business so it will be interesting to watch his venture up in our neck of the woods, no pun intended.
The very popular Doncaster heavyweight Dave Allen will be in action, but so too will be a clutch of North-East talent, Anth Ornsby, Thomas Hodgson and new pros Ryszard Lewicki and Kai Richmond.
Ornsby will be having his second fight since signing for Hobson.
The Wallsend boxer (pictured right trading with Jordan Ellison) has won five from six, his most recent success being an entertaining four-rounder with Fonz Alexander at Rainton Arena in December.
‘Hitman’ Hodgson is getting to box for the first time in his native North-East.
A truly outstanding amateur talent with Birtley and GB Boxing, the 25-year-old has had all four of his pro bouts in either Sheffield or Rotherham, beating Naeem Ali, Matar Sambou, Petar Aleksandrov and Lee Connelly.
At Gateshead, the North Shields light-welterweight will have his toughest test yet against a good Russian, Rustem Fatkhulin, a very recent opponent for both Calum French and Adam Cope.
Watch out for the two newcomers on the bill.
Lewicki is a Polish-born boxer who has represented the country of his birth on numerous occasions but now fights out of Middlesbrough where he is trained by Craig Carney, the coach of British light-middleweight champ, Troy Williamson.
“I am a British fighter with Polish heritage,” Ryszard has said. “I am flying both flags and want to win British and Polish titles.”
Richmond, from Spennymoor, has yet to fight under the Marquess of Queensberry rules but knows a lot about fighting, having had 16 MMA contests and been in boxing gyms since the age of 12.
The 21-year-old will be boxing out of the Twins Academy in Trimdon, the gym of unbeaten NE heavyweight Daryll Hall.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Tom Collins
